In comparison with other developed nations, the United States takes a rather hostile stance towards alternative medicines and natural or holistic healing for the treatment of cancer. Many professionals in the medical community claim that the reason for their hesitation to adopt natural healing techniques lies in the lack of research or verified studies that riddle alternative healing success stories. Proponents of alternative medicine, on the other hand, often claim that the American health care industry is too focused on monetary gain and tends to promote methods of treatment that are profitable rather than effective. The astounding affordability of alternative medicine may contribute to this mindset. Many natural healing techniques are comprised simply of radical dietary changes, huge amounts of vitamin supplements, herbal remedies and mental fortitude exercises, all of which are vastly more affordable than chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery.
While alternative medicine doesn’t receive too much publicity in the United States, the fact is that in some cases it does seem to work. Even in the case of mesothelioma, a terminal cancer caused by asbestos exposure, natural healing remedies have proved incredibly successful in some cases. Mesothelioma is a very aggressive cancer whose prognosis is often shockingly poor. Persons diagnosed with mesothelioma are normally given six to eighteen months to live, and that’s with conventional treatments for retarding the progress of the disease.
In some cases, doctors recommend that mesothelioma patients forgo difficult medical procedures such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery in the belief that they will not prove successful and will simply reduce the patient’s quality of life during their final months. For many mesothelioma patients, this is when they turn to alternative or holistic healing.
That was exactly the case for Rhio O’Conner and Paul Kraus. Both men were diagnosed with mesothelioma and given a very poor prognosis. They were told that conventional medicine was unlikely to improve their situation, and subsequently turned to natural alternatives.
The treatments that Rhio and Paul embraced consisted mostly of switching to a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, taking huge amounts of vitamin supplements including intravenous vitamin C, taking some herbal remedies, and adopting a positive mindset that includes daily affirmations of health and recovery.
Rhio O’ Conner lived for more than seven years after his diagnosis, which is some four or five times longer than is expected in mesothelioma patients who are good candidates for conventional treatment options. Paul Kraus continues to fight mesothelioma today, more than eleven years after his diagnosis.
Clearly, alternative medicine does have some value. The medical communities in Mexico and in the European Union recognize the benefits of some alternative medicine practices and offer them far more readily than the United States. Treatments such as ozone therapy and laetrile (vitamin B-17) therapy that have gained little or no traction in the USA are considered reasonable options in other countries.
The lack of research makes it difficult to compare the effectiveness of conventional and alternative medicine, specifically in the case of mesothelioma. With success stories like those of Rhio O’Conner and Paul Kraus, however, it’s unreasonable to exclude natural medicine as a viable treatment option.
Sources: World without Cancer: The Story of Vitamin B-17 by Edward Griffin, http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2001/s302183.htm, http://www.ozone-association.com
